To the chagrin of some and the pleasure of many, Metropolitan State University’s St. Paul campus is poised to grow, with construction on a $17 million parking ramp scheduled to begin in July and a $34 million to $38 million science center awaiting state funding.

And that’s just in the short term. Long-term plans include a possible student center on Maria Avenue next to new classroom spaces, as well as a possible nursing education center still in early discussions. The university is on the cusp of some of the biggest changes since it took over the old St. John’s Hospital campus off East Seventh Street in the 1990s.

For now, however, university officials are trying to assuage residents over a proposed East Sixth Street skyway and the 800-car Bates Avenue parking ramp, part of which would lie in the Dayton’s Bluff Historic District.

Some homeowners are quick to complain about students in their midst. Given the exodus of major employers such as Whirlpool and the Stroh’s/Hamm’s Brewery from Dayton’s Bluff, residents there are leaning on Metro State to do just the opposite. They would like to find ways to better incorporate students and campus buildings into Sixth and Seventh streets.

“They’ve been a good neighbor in almost every way,” said Deanna Foster, executive director of the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council. “At the same time, this is a struggling community. … The built environment becomes very important to help the small businesses that are trying to recover.”

Tom Cook, the university’s director of government relations, said the $34 million to $38 million science education center is a badly needed asset for both the the city of St. Paul and the university, which is eager to prove to potential employers that graduates have the appropriate skills for the modern workforce. The two-level lab facility would be on Sixth Street between Mounds Boulevard and Maria Avenue, about a block from the Interstate 94 entrance and exit ramps.

“If we’re successful in getting funded in the bonding bill — if there is a bonding bill — we’re hopeful of getting students in classrooms in 2015,” Cook said. He said the science center is the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system’s top legislative bonding request after systemwide facilities upkeep such as boiler and roof replacements.

To get students safely across Sixth Street, however, university officials envision a skyway connecting the new building to Founders Hall and the rest of the main campus. Cook said Metro State’s studies have shown that about 70 percent of the traffic generated by the university uses Sixth Street.

“It’s as much glass and as little steel as you can get away with, but it’s not like it’s not there,” said Cook, who presented plans to the city’s Heritage Preservation Commission in late March. “We’ve had a pretty in-depth conversation with the neighborhood, especially through the city council members and the district council.”

Residents have expressed concern about their views into downtown, which already is partially obstructed by a skyway connecting the shared community/university library on Seventh Street to the main campus.

“One of the things about Dayton’s Bluff is that it has wonderful views of the downtown skyline, because we’re up on the bluff,” Foster said. “So the people who live there feel possessive about that view. Every time (Metro State) builds a skyway, it blocks that view.”

Just as important, Foster said, the skyways remove students from the streets, limiting their interactions with residents and small businesses.

“I think people want (Metro State) to be relating more to the community and being more a part of the community, rather than being above and away from it,” said Foster, noting that the school’s three existing buildings are gathered in a U shape between Mounds Boulevard and Maria Avenue, effectively showing their backs to neighbors. “Students can come to classes there and go and never have any connection.”

Cook said the block-long parking ramp at Bates Avenue and Seventh Street would run from five floors to two floors above ground level because it will be built on a hill. He called it an example of the university’s willingness to adjust its plans. Setbacks from the street will allow room for a line of trees and shrubbery, and a promenade at the southwest corner of Seventh and Bates will create a less fortress-like feel.

“The setbacks aren’t free,” Cook said. “They cost us about 80 parking spots within the ramp, which means revenue. There were some significant changes to the exterior.”

City council president Kathy Lantry, who represents Dayton’s Bluff, said the proposed skyway has drawn scrutiny from residents worried about aesthetic changes in or near the historic district, but the full site plan has yet to come before city officials.

“We’re trying to work with them,” Lantry said. “I wouldn’t say (it’s been) ‘contentious.’ There’s been good discussion about how Metro State fits into the neighborhood. Metro State is an asset to the neighborhood, and we need to figure out how to make them to continue to be.”

Frederick Melo was once sued by a reader for $2 million but kept on writing. He came to the Pioneer Press in 2005 and brings a testy East Coast attitude to St. Paul beat reporting. He spent nearly six years covering crime in the Dakota County courts before switching focus to the St. Paul mayor's office, city council, and all things neighborhood-related, from the city's churches to its parks and light rail. A resident of Hamline-Midway, he is married to a Frogtown woman. He Tweets with manic intensity at @FrederickMelo.

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